Shortlisting Consultants- How To Avoid Being Shortchanged

As more companies look for outside help with their fast changing information technology requirements, they're finding that one size does not necessarily fit all needs when choosing the right consulting firm - and that mid-sized firms can be an attractive alternative to large companies and independents.

Making the right choice is largely a function of compatibility: an alignment between what both the client and service provider expect from a relationship. Before even beginning the selection process, the client must have a clear understanding of their current and future requirements. Only then can they choose the firm that provides the right combination of services, quality, flexibility and cost competitiveness.

So when is a mid-sized consulting company the right choice?

Niche market expertise: A mid-sized IT consulting company generally has more than one office location, but is smaller than firms that have a nation-wide or global presence.

Typically, mid-sized companies offer the same range of IT skills as a larger company. These include:

strategic planning, business process re-engineering, e-commerce solutions, project management, software development, including object-oriented analysis and design using the unified modeling language (UML) and object-oriented programming such as Java, Visual Basic and C++; a high level of quality assurance by following accepted methodologies, processes and practices; database services; outsourcing services, where the consultant assumes accountability for an application to service levels. This may include placing staff at the client's site; and enterprise resource application (ERP Solutions) implement and support.

However, many mid-sized companies are also niche market players, having grown through word-of-mouth to develop a number of clients within the same industry. They have developed indepth business expertise within that market that supports and enhances their ability to meet the majority of a client's IT needs.

For example, if a mid-sized firm focuses on services for the utility industry, there is a real comfort level for clients in dealing with a company that already knows their business.

While mid-sized firms may not have the geographic footprint to provide the one-stop shopping of a global consulting firm, they can partner with a global firm locally or regionally to provide niche market expertise in a way that gives a seamless interface with the client. Large clients that use multiple service providers may also choose to add a mid-sized consulting firm to gain access to the best expertise in a specific area.

Focused responsiveness A mid-sized firm's combination of smaller size and in-depth knowledge of a particular industry can also work to a client's advantage when it comes to responding more quickly to the new technologies.

Mid-sized firms often work on smaller projects, particularly those related to their niche market expertise. It is simply easier to try out a new technology on a smallscale project than on one that has global implications within a widespread corporate structure.

For example, the architecture for deploying Internet applications is changing. This architecture incorporates three components - the server side, the communications and the (thin) client. Better applications will be built using the component architecture. Through component architecture, organizations will be able to add, remove or otherwise change business functionality as easily as users change printers on their word processors. The focused expertise of mid-sized consulting firms can often help companies build and maintain applications faster and more cost-effectively.

Cost efficiency: The very fact that many mid-sized firms grow from word-of-mouth, and not from large advertising budgets, is one way they stay cost competitive. They also have a cost advantage because they support a smaller infrastructure than larger firms.